Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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On Mexican Time
Quiz?s
Yesterday the beach was a war zone. Well, maybe a miniature war zone. Squadrons of dragonflies, wave after wave of tiny helicopters, strafed the
beach. The mission: find and eat every small bug on the beach. A million sorties following some unseen leader with orders to move west but stay
between the shore and the palms.
While I was pretending to be an heroic war correspondent (Cody Savage would be a neat name) risking my neck to give the world the real-time sights
and sounds of the action along the beachhead, two Mexican fishing boats roared through the surf, up onto the beach. Pepe and his brothers said their
hellos. Pepe said the sigarones, the dragonflies, signaled rain. When I asked him when we could expect the rain he answered with his grinning-pirate
look, it said it pleased him to be vague.
His brother, Juan, said they come out after a rain. Juan has the look and demeanor of a Mexican Archie Bunker. Who should I believe? If we throw
out the niggardly constraints of time, they are both right.
This is how I spend my time in Mexico -- having to choose between two (or more) answers to every question. The land may be mostly implacable granite
and prickly cactus but it is pure quicksand for anyone looking for a hard-and-fast answer to anything. In order to better communicate I have forced
myself to be a better listener. I have not learned enough. I use the words siempre and nunca, always and never, as and when the conversation
dictates. These words are rarely spoken in this pueblo -- perhaps used little in all of Mexico. In a land where nothing is what it appears to be I
should expect to hear probables and posibles, a vezes, quis?s manana. (probably, possibly, at times, perhaps tomorrow) The language demonstrates
the basic fatalistic view of the Mexican people. Fatalism defines the culture, pervades every sector of society.
The bending, warping of time is not culturally unique but it stands out like a c-ckroach on a wedding cake when compared to the U.S. cultural
imperative, the atomic clock exactitudes we are so proud of, the "seventeen jewels that dictate the rules".
The western world misinterprets the Mexican time view and world view, sees the people as non-productive, lazy. Time, taken in the abstract, the
Mexican way, offsets the Judeo/Christian stigma of guilt. The time-bending thing allows Mexicans to enjoy the leisure and forgiveness of a mas o menos
attitude about how they run their daily lives. Being a day early or three days late does not call for a trip to the confessional, a single mea culpa.
When two compadres joke with one another, the word lazy, flojo, is often used but it evokes laughter not scorn.
Only now, after spending a few years in Mexico, am I beginning to understand and appreciate the subtlety of these quirks of culture. One day I may
reap some of the benefits myself. I won't bore you with a long list of wonderful side effects but we can both feel the obvious orgullo de patria,
country pride, a Mexican worker must feel, arriving a week late for work, upon learning that his whole crew was laid off several days ago.
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Pappy Jon
Nomad
Posts: 494
Registered: 8-27-2003
Location: Wrong side of the Continental divide.
Member Is Offline
Mood: Temp rising.
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After moving to NEW Mexico several years ago I learned that manana does not certainly mean "probably, possibly, at times, perhaps tomorrow," though I
certainly accept that defination. It just means "not today." All too often I've sat at BOLA waiting for gas manana, only to see another tomorrow come
and go.
I have two weeks of vacation coming. My amigos seems to have bailed on the idea of a Baja vacation so I considered two weeks enjoying the flower
fields of California. But then maybe not. Maybe manana I'll decide. Maybe the decission won't be made until I actually head west. Maybe I'll duck
south, maybe north. Maybe, manana.
________________________
Mexican Minutes (Brooks & Dunn)
Up in the city it's crazy and concrete cold
Living life at the speed of light leaves dark in your soul
When every minute's got a heart attack in it
It's time to leave it alone
So I don't think we're gonna beat this postcard home
(Chorus)
We're down to the worm in the bottle
The chips and the salsa are gone
Now we know why J.T. sang "Oh Mexico"
We're two days south of the border
Feeling too good to care why
These Mexican minutes get longer and longer
As the days goes by
We're dropping our worries
And pickin up Espa?ol
Down here the sunsets are red
The tequila is gold
Life is sublime here on Mexican time
They've got something we need to learn
If we don't show for a while
Don't be concerned
(Repeat chorus twice)
These Mexican minutes get longer and longer
As the days go by
[Edited on 3-13-2005 by Pappy Jon]
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Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3397
Registered: 9-21-2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy!
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When I've been in Baja for a week it seems like I've been there for a month....time stretches in Baja. Maybe its the pace of the
desert......patience, lots of patience for the rain....lots of time to hibernate. Imagine the fortitude of a Cardon to endure the heat and long
droughts--sometimes lasting years.
Maybe its the Mexican manana, but time doesn't stretch on the mainland for me....only in Baja.
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Mexray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1016
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: California Delta
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Time
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Our Baja clock...
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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Santiago
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3499
Registered: 8-27-2003
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Pappy Jon Mexican Minutes (Brooks & Dunn)
________________________
Not to nit-pick, but this was written by Jimmy Messina, a pretty damn good song writer. |
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Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3397
Registered: 9-21-2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy!
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Gotta get one of those clocks Mexray....classic!
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Germanicus
Nomad
Posts: 214
Registered: 6-13-2004
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count me in for:
a clock; a poster; a t-shirt;
whats-o-ever I buy it.
This is the greatest fun about Baja I ever have seen.
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Mexray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1016
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: California Delta
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Time
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You caught me...
...I plagiarized it just for us here on the board! I found a pic of a 'Retired' clock. You can probably find them in one of those gag shops you find
in malls - I think that's where I've seen em'
I just added the 'Baja time...' 'logo'...
Maybe I should make some! Got a buddy that does that kind of stuff. Would have to change it some, as I'm sure the original is trade marked!
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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BajaVida
Senior Nomad
Posts: 541
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Motown, Califas
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy cool
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Bajatime is just putting your watch away when you get there
all you need is the sun and the moon
where do you have to go anyway?
No se apure y dure.
Don\'t hurry and you\'ll last longer.
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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Osprey the more you write the more I like you . few foreigners here try to understand the customs and traditions as you do . for that I applaud you.
keep writing and Ill keep reading and enjoying.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Me No
Banned
Posts: 444
Registered: 11-24-2003
Member Is Offline
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Good stuff Osprey! Those planning on moving to Mexico should print out this post, and read it every mourning, until it sinks in.
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